Classical Canons of Speech Design Invention Arrangement Style Memory Delivery
Purpose The goal of the speech; the response sought from listeners Inform - seeks to increase knowledge and understanding Convince – seeks to influence beliefs or opinions; seeks agreement or conviction Motivating - seeks to move someone to action Celebration – honors, praises, commemorates person or event ***These are rarely clear or mutually exclusive.
Writing a purpose… What is your goal for the speech? “I want….”
Once we have a topic and purpose, we write a thesis statement that is reflective of those elements: Thesis Statement: A succinct statement of the central idea or claim made by the speech; a statement that sums up what you want your audience to remember—your major message
Sample Thesis One Heart strives to make the purchase of Blue Out t- shirts a civic act by appealing to Schudson’s notion of “shared enterprise” and employs rhetorical devices of pathos, ideology, and commonplace.
Claim A statement that may be disputed, and thus requires support, justification or proof; this is what the audience is asked to assent to
Non-Documented Personal Experience Common Knowledge Direct Observation Supporting Materials
Documented Examples – brief, anecdote, case study Documents – govt. reports, laws/regs, peer reviewed journals, scientific reports Statistics – trends, frequency, size Testimony – lay, prestige, expert; fact, opinion
Sample Format for Supporting a Point Main Idea/CLAIM --Facts, stats --Testimony --Example Restate original assertion RESULT: CREATION OF PROOF
Thinking about Speech Design Strive for: Simplicity – clear and succinct Distinctness – each idea is separate Parallel Structure – points have a similar grammatical structure Balance – there is logical weight to each segment Coherence – main ideas have a clear relationship; hang together Completeness – together they present a clear view of the subject Orderliness – open with intro, develop main ideas, end with conclusion, follow a consistent pattern of development